“China won’t want to see anything below, say, 7 percent,”
King said in an interview in Beijing. If growth slows to that
level, the government may introduce policies to bolster the
economy, King said.

Fifty-nine percent of global investors in a Bloomberg poll
published in September predicted economic growth in China will
slow to less than 5 percent by 2016. Growth moderated to 9.1
percent in the third quarter, the slowest in two years, after
the central bank limited lending to fight inflation and the
European debt crisis eroded demand for exports.

“There’s always been a fear that something must be going
wrong in China” because it’s achieved a growth that’s “without
precedent” during the past three decades, King said. “I think
the 5 percent forecast is far too pessimistic.”

Data yesterday showed a Chinese manufacturing index dropped
in October to the lowest level since February 2009 as a measure
of export orders contracted for the second time in three months.

King said the tightening steps adopted by China are
working, with slowed credit growth and moderated domestic
manufacturing evidence of its effect. China’s money supply grew
13 percent in September, the slowest pace in a decade, after the
central bank raised borrowing costs five times and boosted
lenders’ reserve requirements nine times in the past year to
curb inflation.

“We are close to an inflection point now,” King said,
adding that the need for further tightening “is gone.”